Systems and Methods for Protecting Customer Secrets During Vendor Troubleshooting

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and computer products for protecting information during troubleshooting are provided. A dumping mechanism includes marking at least one of a plurality of memory regions in the computer-readable medium as non-dumpable, initiating a core dump, determining which memory regions of the plurality regions are non-dumpable, and dumping the contents only of memory regions not marked as non-dumpable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to protecting customer secret dataduring troubleshooting, and more particularly to methods and systems formarking memory regions as non-dumpable so that those regions will notbecome part of a core dump.

BACKGROUND

A proxy can become privy to information that is intended to be secret.Some of these secrets are private to the organization that owns theproxy, e.g., the passwords the proxy uses to access servers, whileothers are the secrets of the users whose traffic traverses the proxy.Becoming privy to user's secrets is particularly likely when the proxyis capable of intercepting and decrypting encrypted traffic, such asHTTPS traffic. The proxy should attempt to prevent the disclosure ofthese secrets.

Conventional commercial IT products often include a troubleshootingmechanism that makes a complete copy of the contents of the device'smemory at the time a fault is detected (a so-called memory or “core”dump). The information in this dump is typically sent to the vendor ofthe device and used by the vendor's engineering team to analyze thestate of the device at the time of the fault in an attempt to find theroot cause.

The conventional dump mechanism is indiscriminate in that it dumps allthe contents of the device's memory. If the device's memory containssecret or sensitive data, this data will be exposed to the vendor'sengineering team if and when the dump is sent for analysis. Thisexposure is a problem for both the customer and the vendor. The customerhas exposed secret data (either his own or his users) and so mustconsider them compromised. Users will have their privacy invaded.Furthermore, possession of this secret data may impose a duty on thevendor to keep that data secret. If the data is revealed by the vendor'saction, embarrassment or possibly legal liability could result. Incertain jurisdictions, evidence of criminal activity discovered in sucha way may have to be reported to the authorities. Thus, the employee maybe placed in the difficult position of violating confidentialityagreements or the law.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention reduces the risk of disclosing secret information duringtroubleshooting by eliminating secret information from the dump.Systems, methods, and computer products consistent with embodiments ofthe present invention provide a mechanism for marking areas of memorythat contain secret or sensitive information as non-dumpable. Thedumping mechanism then consults these marks to determine whether or notto include the area of memory within the dump.

Systems, methods, and computer products consistent with embodiments ofthe present invention are directed to protecting information duringtroubleshooting. An embodiment of a method consistent with the presentinvention includes marking at least one of a plurality of memory regionsin a memory as non-dumpable; initiating a core dump; determining whichmemory regions of the plurality of memory regions are non-dumpable; anddumping the contents only of memory regions not marked as non-dumpable.Marking at least one memory region may include calling a marking methodof a kernel application program interface (API). Marking at least onememory region may also include marking the memory region as non-dumpablewhen the memory region is allocated. Marking at least one memory regionmay further include marking memory regions associated with a transactionas non-dumpable when the memory regions are allocated. Moreover, markingat least one memory region may include marking an object as non-dumpableand marking all memory used by the object as non-dumpable.

In one embodiment consistent with the invention, the data processingsystem is a proxy. Marking may include marking at least one memoryregion that stores data associated with network traffic through theproxy. The data associated with network traffic may be decrypted data ofan HTTPS transfer. Furthermore, initiating a core dump may be performedin response to detecting a fault. In one embodiment consistent with thepresent invention, the method further includes encrypting data stored inat least one memory region marked as non-dumpable; and dumping theencrypted data.

An embodiment of a computer program product consistent with the presentinvention include a computer-readable medium having stored thereoncomputer-readable instructions for marking at least one of a pluralityof memory regions in a memory as non-dumpable; initiating a core dump;determining which memory regions of the plurality of memory regions arenon-dumpable; and dumping the contents only of memory regions not markedas non-dumpable. Marking at least one memory region may include callinga marking method of a kernel application program interface (API).Marking at least one memory region may also include marking the memoryregion as non-dumpable when the memory region is allocated. Marking atleast one memory region may further include marking memory regionsassociated with a transaction as non-dumpable when the memory regionsare allocated. Moreover, marking at least one memory region may includemarking an object as non-dumpable and marking all memory used by theobject as non-dumpable.

In one embodiment consistent with the invention, the data processingsystem is a proxy. Marking may include marking at least one memoryregion that stores data associated with network traffic through theproxy. The data associated with network traffic may be decrypted data ofan HTTPS transfer. Furthermore, initiating a core dump may be performedin response to detecting a fault. In one embodiment consistent with thepresent invention, the computer program product further includesinstructions for encrypting data stored in at least one memory regionmarked as non-dumpable; and dumping the encrypted data.

An embodiment of a system consistent with the present invention includesa data processing system for protecting information duringtroubleshooting having a memory having stored thereon a computer programfor marking at least one of a plurality of memory regions in thecomputer-readable medium as non-dumpable, initiating a core dump,determining which memory regions of the plurality regions arenon-dumpable, and dumping the contents only of memory regions not markedas non-dumpable; and a processing for executing the computer program.

Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of thefollowing figures and detailed description. It is intended that all suchadditional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included withinthis description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protectedby the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate an implementation of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theadvantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network environment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a exemplary computer system;

FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram of an embodimentconsistent with the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram depicting a method consistent with oneembodiment of the present invention for preventing disclosure ofsensitive data to a vendor after a memory dump; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram depicting a method consistent withanother embodiment of the present invention for preventing disclosure ofsensitive data to a vendor after a memory dump.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to an implementation consistentwith the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughoutthe drawings and the following description to refer to the same or likeparts.

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system in embodiments consistent withthe present invention operate. Proxy 103 is connected to clientcomputers 105, 107, and 109 via a first network 113, e.g., an intranet.Proxy 103 intercepts communication between client computers 105, 107,and 109, and a second network 111, e.g., the Internet. Thus, if server101 attempts communication with any of client computers 105, 107, and109, that communication must go through proxy 103. Likewise, if any ofclient computers 105, 107, and 109 attempts communication outside offirst network 113, that communication must also go through proxy 103. Inone embodiment of the invention, proxy 103 is a Secure Sockets LayerHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) proxy. As an HTTPS proxy, proxy 103can originate secure requests to the origin content server. Datatransmitted between the client and proxy 103 is encrypted and decryptedusing public and private keys established on the proxy 103 and theclient. If the proxy 103 is initiating secure requests to an origincontent server, that traffic is also encrypted.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a data processing system that can be configuredas a proxy consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.Computer system 201 includes a bus 203 or other communication mechanismfor communicating information, and a processor 205 coupled with bus 203for processing the information. Computer system 201 also includes a mainmemory 208, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamicstorage device, coupled to bus 203 for storing information andinstructions to be executed by processor 205. In addition, main memory208 may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions to be executed by processor205. Computer system 201 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 209or other static storage device coupled to bus 203 for storing staticinformation and instructions for processor 205. A storage device 211,such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is provided and coupled to bus203 for storing information and instructions.

According to one embodiment, processor 205 executes one or moresequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 208. Suchinstructions may be read into main memory 303 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as storage device 211. Execution of thesequences of instructions contained in main memory 208 causes processor205 to perform the process steps described herein. One or moreprocessors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed toexecute the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 208. Inalternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of orin combination with software instructions. Thus, embodiments are notlimited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

Further, the instructions to support the system interfaces and protocolsof system 100 may reside on a computer-readable medium. The term“computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any medium thatparticipates in providing instructions to processor 205 for execution.Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppydisk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magneticmedium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM,a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read.

Computer system 201 also includes a communication interface 219 coupledto bus 203. Communication interface 219 provides a two-way datacommunication coupling to a network link 221 that is connected to alocal network 223. For example, communication interface 219 may be anetwork interface card. As another example, communication interface 219may be an asymmetrical digital subscriber line (ADSL) card, anintegrated services digital network (ISDN) card or a modem to provide adata communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line.Wireless links may also be implemented. In any such implementation,communication interface 219 sends and receives electrical,electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streamsrepresenting various types of information.

FIG. 3 illustrates functional block diagram of one embodiment consistentwith the present invention, which may be implemented on computer system201. In one embodiment consistent with the present invention, thecomputer system 201 is a proxy appliance. An Operating System (OS) 301includes a kernel 303 and a kernel API 305 with which to make calls tothe kernel. The kernel API includes a method call for marking a regionin memory as non-dumpable. In one embodiment consistent with theinvention, the memory is a four kilobyte memory page. The OS may includea non-dumpable allocation routine 307 that, when called, allocatesmemory to the calling application and marks the allocated memory regionsas non-dumpable. The OS may further include a non-dumpable transactionalheap routine 308 that, when called, allocates a memory heap for atransaction and marks memory regions of the allocated heap asnon-dumpable. The OS may further include and non-dumpable object accessmode routine 311 that marks the memory regions associated with or usedby an object as non-dumpable if the object has been indicated as secret.

In one embodiment consistent with the present invention, an Application319 may make a call to any of the non-dumpable allocation routine 307,non-dumpable transactional heap routine 308, and non-dumpable objectaccess mode routine 311 to mark a memory region as non-dumpable. Inanother embodiment consistent with the present invention, theApplication 319 may directly call a method in the kernel API 305, whichcauses the kernel 303 to mark the indicated memory region asnon-dumpable. A non-dumpable attribute database 315 is maintained toindicate which memory regions in memory 313 are marked as non-dumpable.Alternatively, non-dumpable attributes may be maintained in main memory.Persistent storage 317 may be used to store the dumped memory regiondata of memory 313.

Consistent with one embodiment of the present invention, a heap is usedfor storing secrets, e.g. passwords the proxy knows). When this heapacquires memory from the underlying system, it directs the kernel tomark the pages that comprise the memory as non-dumpable. This ensuresthat any secrets stored in memory allocated from this heap are neverdumped. If the heap returns memory to the system to make it availablefor other use, it ensures that it is cleared (set to zero).

In another embodiment consistent with the invention, the proxy uses aspecific kind of heap for allocating memory that is needed only duringprocessing of that transaction which has different performancecharacteristics than other heaps. A transaction may be arequest/response passed through a proxy, as well as all of the decisionsand associated processing performed by the proxy in handling therequest/response. When the proxy starts a transaction that may includeprocessing of secret data, it creates a variant transaction heap thatuses the kernel API to mark the memory it acquires as non-dumpable.

In yet another embodiment consistent with the invention, a proxytransaction that processes secret data may decide to cache that data onthe disk so that it can be delivered more quickly if requested again.The data are cached in an object, i.e., a unit of persistent storagereferring to a resource identified by a URL. If the object containssecret data, the object is marked on the disk as being secret. When thecache subsystem loads the data from the disk into memory (so that it canbe delivered to a client or for any other reason), it marks the memoryareas into which the object data is read as non-dumpable.

An object storage system provides for the creation of and subsequentaccess to or deletion of objects (or files) stored on computer-readablemedia, and an API. An object may be a cached copy of content obtainedfrom a remote server or a file. The object storage API includes a methodcall to identify an object's contents to be temporarily stored only inmemory regions that are marked as non-dumpable. That is, as the objectis being created, all of the data to be contained in the object may onlybe temporarily stored (on its way to computer-readable media) innon-dumpable memory regions. The object is itself marked as non-dumpablewhen it is created. Conversely, when data from an object marked asnon-dumpable is transferred into a memory region for temporary storagebefore being transported elsewhere in a secure manner, the memory regioninvolved must also be marked non-dumpable. That is, the need fornon-dumpable memory to be used in storing secret data tocomputer-readable media is not only imposed by applications thatunderstand the need to avoid exposing such data during storage. It isalso imposed by means of an attribute stored with the object or file sothat subsequent use by any unaware application correctly results in theuse of non-dumpable memory when the object data is read fromcomputer-readable media.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram depicting a method consistent with oneembodiment of the present invention for preventing disclosure ofsensitive data to a vendor after a memory dump. At step 410, anapplication determines that data is secret or sensitive, and thus shouldbe stored in a memory region marked as non-dumpable. The data may be apassword or decrypted HTTPS traffic. The application makes a call to theOS to mark the memory regions storing this data as non-dumpable as step420. In one embodiment consistent with the present invention, theapplication calls one of a non-dumpable allocation routine, anon-dumpable transactional heap routine, and a non-dumpable objectaccess mode routine in the OS to mark a memory region as non-dumpable.In another embodiment consistent with the present invention, theapplication directly calls a method in a kernel API, which causes thekernel of the OS to mark the indicated memory region as non-dumpable. Atstep 430, a shutdown event is detected, e.g., a fault, that initiates amemory dump. The OS determines which memory regions are non-dumpable byexamining the non-dumpable attribute database at step 440. At step 450,the OS causes the data in the memory regions that are not marked asnon-dumpable to a non-volatile storage medium. The dumped data is thentransmitted to a vendor for troubleshooting at step 460.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram depicting another method consistentwith one embodiment of the present invention for preventing disclosureof sensitive data to a vendor after a memory dump. At step 510, anapplication determines that data is secret or sensitive, and thus shouldbe stored in a memory region marked as non-dumpable. The applicationmakes a call to the OS to mark the memory regions storing this data asnon-dumpable as step 520. In one embodiment consistent with the presentinvention, the application calls one of a non-dumpable allocationroutine, a non-dumpable transactional heap routine, and a non-dumpableobject access mode routine in the OS to mark a memory region asnon-dumpable. In another embodiment consistent with the presentinvention, the application directly calls a method in a kernel API,which causes the kernel of the OS to mark the indicated memory region asnon-dumpable.

At step 530, a shutdown event is detected, initiating a memory coredump. The OS determines which memory regions are non-dumpable byexamining the non-dumpable attribute database at step 540. At step 550,the OS causes the data in the memory regions that are not marked asnon-dumpable to a non-volatile storage medium. At step 560, the OSencrypts the data in the memory regions that are marked as non-dumpable.The encrypted data is then dumped to the non-volatile storage medium atstep 570. Both unencrypted and encrypted dumped data are thentransmitted to a vendor for troubleshooting at step 580. If theencrypted data is required for troubleshooting, the OS administrator mayprovide the vendor with the encryption key to decrypt the data.

While there has been illustrated and described what is at presentconsidered to be the preferred embodiment of the present invention, itwill be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the true scope of the invention.Therefore, it is intended that this invention not be limited to theparticular embodiment disclosed, but that the invention will include allembodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A method in a data processing system for protecting informationduring troubleshooting, comprising: marking at least one of a pluralityof memory regions in a memory as non-dumpable; initiating a core dump;determining which memory regions of the plurality of memory regions arenon-dumpable; and dumping the contents only of memory regions not markedas non-dumpable.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein marking the at leastone memory region includes calling a marking method of a kernelapplication program interface (API).
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinmarking the at least one memory region includes marking the memoryregion as non-dumpable when the memory region is allocated.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein marking the at least one memory regionincludes marking memory regions associated with a transaction asnon-dumpable when the memory regions are allocated.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein marking the at least one memory region includes markingan object as non-dumpable and marking all memory used by the object asnon-dumpable.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data processingsystem is a proxy.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein marking includesmarking at least one memory region that stores data associated withnetwork traffic through the proxy.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein thedata associated with network traffic is decrypted data of an HTTPStransfer.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating a core dump isperformed in response to detecting a fault.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising: encrypting data stored in the at least one memoryregion marked as non-dumpable; and dumping the encrypted data.
 11. Acomputer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-readableinstructions for executing a method for protecting information duringtroubleshooting, the method comprising: marking at least one of aplurality of memory regions in a memory as non-dumpable; initiating acore dump; determining which memory regions of the plurality of memoryregions are non-dumpable; and dumping the contents only of memoryregions not marked as non-dumpable.
 12. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 11, wherein marking the at least one memory region includescalling a marking method of a kernel application program interface(API).
 13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein marking theat least one memory region includes marking the memory region asnon-dumpable when the memory region is allocated.
 14. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein marking the at least onememory region includes marking memory regions associated with atransaction as non-dumpable when the memory regions are allocated. 15.The method of claim 12, wherein marking the at least one memory regionincludes marking an object as non-dumpable and marking all memory usedby the object as non-dumpable.
 16. The computer-readable medium of claim11, wherein the data processing system is a proxy.
 17. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein marking includes markingat least one memory region that stores data associated with networktraffic through the proxy.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17,wherein the data associated with network traffic is decrypted data of anHTTPS transfer.
 19. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, whereininitiating a core dump is performed in response to detecting a fault.20. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising:encrypting data stored in the at least one memory region marked asnon-dumpable; and dumping the encrypted data.
 21. A data processingsystem for protecting information during troubleshooting, comprising: amemory having stored thereon a computer program for marking at least oneof a plurality of memory regions in a computer-readable medium asnon-dumpable, initiating a core dump, determining which memory regionsof the plurality regions are non-dumpable, and dumping the contents onlyof memory regions not marked as non-dumpable; and a processing forexecuting the computer program.